Lambda School for Gifted Youth
by PrincessPenelliotTheBrave
Summary: Jack's father decides that a boarding school is the best option for Jack. Luckily he qualifies for a gifted school, but just barely (maybe Mr. McKinley bribed the school board just a little bit). Jack has no idea how to be social, but soon enough he finds himself with a crew of friends and maybe also a more-than-just-friends. Set in an alternate timeline/universe than the canon.
1. Chapter 1

My dad thought it would be a good idea to send me to a boarding school. I guess he figured it would keep me out of trouble while he was away on his business trips, plus he wouldn't have to pay for an au pair anymore. I would have preferred the au pair to be honest, but my house was never really the same since my mom died. Maybe a bit of time away from home would be good.

So there I was, walking towards a squat but professional looking building in the middle of nowhere. I didn't even know which part of Indiana I was in anymore; the trip here was so confusing.

I turned around to wave to my last ever au pair, but she was already speeding away frantically down the curving road. I wasn't that bad, was I?

I sighed. I still couldn't believe I was attending a boarding school. Apparently less than two hundred students were enrolled here.

I walked slowly up to the front door, the name above in gold letters—Lambda School for Gifted Youth— staring down at me menacingly as if sneering "You? Gifted? I don't think so. What have you ever done to deserve attending this elite school?"

I did up the buttons on my coat and got ready for the beginning of my social suicide.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jack McKinley, eh?" An old man peered down at me through a pair of glasses with smudged lenses.

"Pleasure to have your acquaintance, I'm Principal Bhegad."

"Uh, nice to meet you too." I replied, leaning away slightly.

"So, you'll need a uniform…" Bhegad mumbled, consulting his forms. "A fee of $350…" My breath caught in my throat. "…Which your father has paid." Bhegad continued. I sighed in relief.

"Yes okay, we'll get you fitted. Dr. Fritz will help you with that. FRITZ!" He turned and called behind him.

A thin man with greying hair and an apron emerged from a door down the hall which I presumed was an office.

" _Doctor_ Fritz." The man corrected. He had an unmistakeable German accent.

"Yes alright." Principal Bhegad said, quite annoyed. "Take this student to get fitted. He needs, oh… three uniforms? Better keep up with the laundry." He chuckled, patting me on the back.

Dr. Fritz turned on his heel and started walking swiftly down the hall. I had to sprint to keep up.

The halls were orderly and pristine; everything in the building had a professional air to it, making me, with my ripped jeans and questionable cleanliness, stick out like a sore thumb. I hoped the other students weren't as classy and uptight as the staff.

Dr. Fritz suddenly made a sharp turn into the next hallway and disappeared into what looked like a janitor closet, probably the least expensive-looking room I had seen all day.

Immediately when I walked in Dr. Fritz threw a shirt at me, which I almost dropped.

"You're about a size, what? Twelve? Fourteen?" He asked, rummaging through shelves of identical folded pants.

I just shrugged.

"Well, go try it on!" Dr. Fritz said impatiently, pointing to a curtained off section of the room in the back.

"Also take these." He handed me a stack of four pairs of pants and a couple uniform jackets. "Now I have a class to get back to, so take whatever fits and leave, I don't care. Make sure you don't forget the ties and socks, and grab a pair of shoes from the box in the corner." Dr. Fritz's apron swished dramatically as he left the room and closed the door. The light fixture above shook slightly and dimmed.

Why did I agree to go to this school?


	3. Chapter 3

After struggling with the uniforms I headed back to the office. I didn't really want to see the principal again, but I had no idea what to do now. Classes had started a week ago already, but I had no schedule and no idea where I was supposed to be, and it wasn't like I could just walk into a classroom like "Hey, I'm Jack, what's up?" I had to be cool about it. Plus I didn't have anywhere to put my new uniforms, and I was still wearing my old t-shirt and ripped jeans combo since I wasn't sure if I should put one of them on yet.

When I arrived at the office Principal Bhegad was gone. Instead a young woman was sitting behind the front desk with her feet up on top of it, wearing tall black boots. I wasn't sure if she was a teacher or not considering she had tattoos and multiple face piercings, and her long hair was dyed pitch black. She also had earbuds on and was listening to some loud screechy music on an incredibly high volume. When she saw me she turned the music down and took one of her earbuds out.

"Are you Jack, the new student?" She asked with an amused smile.

"Uhh, yeah." I said, trying to give off a good impression, but nearly tripping over one of the shirt sleeves dangling from my arms. She seemed nice but I kinda hoped I wouldn't be in her class now that I had proven my awkwardness.

She smirked and got up, walking around the desk.

"I'm supposed to bring you to your dorm. Oh, and give you… this." she reached into her pocket and pulled out a haphazardly scrunched piece of paper which she unfolded and flattened before handing to me. "This is your schedule. Since it's Friday and classes are already in progress you're just going to start on Monday, I hope you don't mind."

I nodded. I didn't mind at all.

She began walking down a different hall, indicating for me to follow.

"The dormitories are on the other side of the school, but we're just gonna take a shortcut through the courtyard because I love the willows. Usually the doors are locked during class, but luckily I have a key." She said, lifting a lanyard with a handful of small keys on the end and waving it in the air.

"Hold on, did I introduce myself? No I didn't, darn. I'm Ms. P, but feel free to call me Nirvana, everyone does. It's because I'm a music teacher." She winked before turning to unlock the courtyard door.

The courtyard was actually very impressive. I could see why Nirvana liked the willows so much, with their branches draping over rose bushes and daffodils, and small ponds dotting the ground in their shadows.

It was a pretty small courtyard, but very beautiful. We walked past a group of benches along the paving stone path, and I saw a wooden picnic table between the branches of one of the trees.

We walked in silence through the other side of the school, and then went out the back. The dormitories were in a separate building about half the size of the actual school. The walls looked as if they needed some cleaning, and someone had graffitied "upper fløør is før queers" next to the door in neon green spray paint. A few windows down one of the drain pipes was coming loose and water dripped into a trash can lid that someone had put under it.

"Your room is number 253. I told Bighead, I mean Bhegad, that I'd hold fort for him down at the office though, so you'll have to find it on your own. Also your roommate will probably be getting back in about an hour, so don't make a huge mess. See you in class next week!" Nirvana waved and walked back towards the main building.


	4. Chapter 4

I sighed and pushed through the door with one hand, trying not to drop my uniforms on the ground.

The room opened up into a lounge area which was empty except for a girl lying on her stomach on one of the couches. She was facing away from me, headphones on, typing away on a blue laptop she had propped against the arm rest. She looked like a mini version of Nirvana except with a velvet dress and black fishnet leggings.

I decided to be as quiet as possible and just sneak by her. I didn't really want anyone to see me in these clothes, especially someone who was relatively wealthy judging by the excess of jewellery spouting from every part of her body. I assumed she was skipping class seeing as the rest of the building was deathly quiet.

Now what was my room number again? Was it 235 or 253? Both were upstairs according to a sign by the staircase. I climbed up quickly to get away from the girl, and tried to remember what number Nirvana had told me.

The first of those rooms was 235, so I stopped there first. There was a card scanner on the door. I didn't have a card.

I sat on the floor, deciding I might as well wait until someone showed me where my room was. I didn't even care about the uniforms anymore; I would put them away later. I dumped them in a pile next to me and realized I was still holding the paper Nirvana had given me at the office. My schedule.

I flattened out the creases a bit more and my hand ran over a smooth part on the other side. I flipped the paper over. On the reverse side someone had taped a white and blue card with a sticker on it that read 253.

Good, now I wouldn't have to embarrass myself by sitting in front of someone else's room next to a pile of laundry.

I got up and picked up the clothes, walking farther down the hall until I was almost at the end.

Luckily the key card worked, because I really didn't want my classmates finding me on the floor. That was not the kind of impression I wanted to make on my first day.

It was already late, almost 5:00 now, and I was getting hungry. I was also pretty tired from the last minute preparation and long car trip up here.

I looked around the dorm. The only pieces of furniture were two loft beds at opposite sides of the room, dressers underneath, and an old armchair sitting pathetically in the corner. This was definitely a different atmosphere than the main building.

It didn't really look like anyone else was using the room, except for the t-shirt and socks thrown over the dresser on the left side. I guess that was my indication to take the bed on the right.

I stuffed my uniforms in one of the drawers, deciding I would fold them later. The shoes I threw by the door.

I felt awkward in my current outfit, but I hadn't brought any other clothes with me. My dad told me there was a student convenience store that I could get some new clothes and toiletries from, but I hadn't seen one when I was walking over here with Nirvana.

I opened the curtains. Past the school building all I saw was countryside and some houses dotted in the distance. Most of the surrounding area was farmland, and the nearest Target or Walmart was probably 5 miles away. I sighed and closed the curtains again.

I checked my watch. 5:09 PM. My stomach rumbled. I hadn't eaten since Nellie, my ex-au pair, had stopped at A&W and gotten us a couple of burgers each. That was a good five hours ago.

I climbed the ladder up to my new loft bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling.

Nirvana reminded me a bit off Nellie, what with the black clothing, dyed hair, and interesting taste in music. I wondered if they were related.

What time was it? I was getting really bored. 5:11 PM.

Wait, I didn't check my schedule yet. I didn't even know what classes my dad signed me up for.

I sat up and unfolded the paper again, spreading it out on the bed in front of me.

Blk 1: World History

Blk 2: Physical Education

Blk 3: Home Economics

Blk 4: Tech Education

Blk 5: Sciences

Blk 6: Mathematics (Pre-Calculus)

Blk 7: English Literature

Blk 8: Music

Blk 9 & 11: Mechanics

Blk 10 & 12: Technology Intermediate

I had no idea what any of that meant. How would I know what time I was supposed to be in class? Why did I have twelve blocks? What the heck is pre-calculus?

I flipped the paper over, deciding to ignore my schedule for now. The opposite side listed every class the school offered, along with the teachers that taught the class and which room it was in.

I pored over the list trying to memorize the names of my teachers and where my classes took place. I was so fixated on the paper that I didn't notice when someone came into the room.


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh hi, I'm Cass!" Said a voice from below. I jumped in surprise, hitting my head on the ceiling.

"Owww," I murmured in pain.

"Sorry." The voice said sheepishly.

Well, there went my good impression.

I looked over the edge of the bed and saw a small boy about my age, maybe younger, standing by the door. He was wearing a school uniform and had sandy blond curls.

"Are you my new roommate?" He asked.

"I guess," I said, rubbing my head. "I'm Jack."

"I'm Cass," he said, introducing himself again. Who would name their son Cass? There were some weird people at this school.

I climbed down from the loft, accidentally dropping the paper on the floor.

"Oh, can I check your schedule?" Cass asked, picking it up.

"Uh, sure," I said even though he had already started reading through it.

"We have PE, Home Ec., English, and Music together. And you're taking mechanics and technology, whoa! Have fun dealing with Mr. Fiddle all day; Aly says he's a really frustrating teacher. Luckily I'm taking languages as my extra courses, so I only have him for Tech Ed." Cass said. I was surprised at how fast he could speak. I'm pretty sure I can't even think that fast.

"Who's Aly?" I asked.

"Oh, Aly is super cool!" Cass gushed. "You'll love her; I'll introduce you at dinner. She has the best hair! It's bright pink and like, okay, well, you'll see when you meet her. You have a bunch of classes with her too; she takes technology intermediate and advanced. Apparently she knows how to hack into the school's student files."

Interesting.

"Hey, when is dinner?" I asked Cass.

He checked his watch.

"In ten minutes, but we can line up early. Actually, you should change into your uniform first, if you have one already."

"Oh, yeah, I'll just change quickly." I said, opening my dresser and getting out one of the uniforms. I turned to Cass. He looked back at me. I coughed.

"Oh! I'll wait outside." He said, hurriedly exiting.

At least he was friendly.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, you're Jack McKinley. Born and raised in Indiana, sent to this school while your father works with his company around Asia, currently Indonesia. Fan of Sword Art Online."

"Stop that, you're going to freak him out."

"How do you even know all that?!"

We were sitting in the cafeteria, Aly, Cass, and I were. Cass had just introduced me to Aly.

"I'm very good at harnessing the powers of online search engines." She said. "Also your SAO fan page is quite… interesting."

"I made that when I was twelve." I said defensively.

"I know." Aly said, and laughed.

She made me a bit uneasy, but she seemed nice. Also Cass was right, she did have awesome hair. Actually she was really cute. There was no way I was going to tell her that anytime soon though.

"So, do you have any interests besides Sword Art Online? Or Fairy Tale, or Soul Eater, or Naruto, or Sailor Moon…" Aly grinned cheekily. She was teasing me.

"I collect rocks." I said.

Aly's grin faded. She looked surprised.

"Really? I do too. What kind of rocks?"

"Uhh, just ones I find. Usually in rivers when I'm on vacation. I have a lot of flat round ones that I used to paint, but I'm not that artistic so I stopped."

"You should start painting them again, that's really cool!" Aly exclaimed.

"Are you an artist?" I asked her.

"God no!" She said, and exchanged a glance with Cass. They laughed, probably about an inside joke. Suddenly I felt really lonely and left out.

"Remember… the green rhinoceros?" Cass said, trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard.

Aly burst out laughing again.

"Oh my god, that was terrible! Mrs. Pelloni probably hates me now!"

"You're lucky she retired." Cass said, taking a sip of his milk. "Hey, maybe you should send her a postcard. I think she lives in Miami now."

"Oh of course, that's exactly what I want to do." Aly rolled her eyes dramatically and she and Cass burst out laughing again.

"Who's Mrs. Pelloni?" I asked, trying to join the conversation.

"Oh, she was the art teacher last year, but she retired probably because of Aly's horrible taste in colours." Cass explained.

"Rude." Aly said, smacking Cass's shoulder playfully.

"Hey, where's Marco? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Aly said, looking around the cafeteria, or 'comestible' as the teachers called it.

"He offered to give Daria a tour of the school." Cass said through a large bite of food.

"Who's Daria?" Aly asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Exchange student. She's in my language classes." Cass explained.

"Oh, is she the one in PE with us? With the long black hair?"

"Yeah." Cass replied, swallowing. "That's her. I think Marco likes her." He said, raising his eyebrows.

Aly frowned but said nothing.

"Oh hey, speaking of Marco…" Cass pointed across the room. A tall guy with dark brown hair was just walking through the cafeteria doors, talking animatedly to a shorter girl wearing a yellow dress that stood out from all the students in their school uniforms.

"That's Marco." Cass whispered in my ear. "He's really awesome."

"Hey, Marco! Over here!" Aly stood up and waved him over to where we were sitting.

"Dude, let him grab a tray first." Cass said, leaning across the table and pulling her back into her seat.

Marco waved and went to stand in line with Daria. They continued chatting while Aly frowned at them from our table. What was up with her?

"So… do you guys have any other friends at this school?" I asked, trying to divert Aly's attention away from Marco and Daria.

"Well, there're the Rodda twins. And Marco's sister, Chloe." Cass offered.

"Oh yeah, Helena Rodda is cool. That's her over there with her brother, Anthony." Aly pointed to a girl and a boy sitting a couple tables over.

Helena had curly brown hair and dark skin that was almost the same colour. She was leaning over a sketch book, her dinner tray pushed to the side. Anthony was sitting next to her and drinking out of her milk glass. He had square glasses and short black hair and was maybe two or three inches taller than Helena.

"They're… twins?" I asked, confused.

"Their dad is black and their mom is Chinese." Aly clarified.

"But they don't look alike at all!" I exclaimed.

"They make up for it in personality, you'll see." Cass assured me. "Also they're both named after characters in Shakespeare's plays, same as me."

"Cass is a character in Shakespeare?" I asked.

"Cassius, yeah. I haven't actually read the play though, but my parents were Shakespeare fans."

"Were?" I questioned, and then I immediately regretted asking.

"I mean, they're not…" Cass's face hardened. "Never mind."

There was an awkward silence around us. I tried to avoid Cass and Aly's eyes. Aly stuck a huge spoonful of mashed potatoes in her mouth. Cass dropped his knife, which clattered on the floor.

"Hey, what's up bro and sis?" I looked up to see Marco with an overloaded tray, Daria looking around his shoulder.

"Hi." She said nervously. She looked like a small child hiding behind her parent/bodyguard.

"Hey, who's this?" He asked Aly, pointing at me.

"I'm Jack." I said at the same time that Aly said "He's Jack."

"Oooo-kay. So that's Jack." Marco said. He took a seat next to Aly and started eating her leftover salad.

"Hey, I wasn't finished with that!" Aly said, smacking his arm away with a smile.

"Losers weepers." Marco said, scooping up her mashed potatoes as well.

"Don't you have enough food?" Cass asked exasperatedly.

"Bro, no food is ever enough for this machine." Marco said, taking a break from eating to flex his muscles. "Oh, and this is Daria by the way. You've probably seen her in class. Daria, these are the friends I was telling you about, Alyssa and Cassius."

"Don't call me Cassius." Cass said, flinging a bean at Marco's face. It flew over his shoulder and hit another kid in the back.

"Behave." Aly said, waving her finger jokingly at both of them.

"Anyway, what's your full name? Jack must be short for something. Is your name Jacques? Jacqueline maybe?" Marco said, pointing his fork at me.

"Definitely not Jacqueline." I said.

"Jacques it is then." Marco exclaimed.

"Just ignore him." Cass whispered while rolling his eyes. "Once he gets like this it's hard to get him to stop.

"Oh, I know! Jackson." He said triumphantly.

"My name isn't Jackson." I replied.

"Jackie?"

Aly snickered.

"I'll call you Jackie." Marco decided, and went back to eating his surplus of mashed potatoes.

"They need to get some better food in here." Cass sighed as he dumped the rest of his beans onto Marco's tray. Marco immediately started devouring them. Daria and Aly were watching him as if in a trance.

"You know, I never understood why Fritz didn't just cook everything. That would be so much better"

"Doctor Fritz." Aly corrected, mimicking his accent.

Cass rolled his eyes at her.

"And it's because he has classes to teach. He doesn't have time to cook for the whole school." Aly explained. "And they'd have to pay double as well."

"But they're already paying the kitchen staff, so it's not like they'd be losing money." Cass argued.

"They would be though, because Fritz has a PhD, so they have to pay him more otherwise he won't work for them." Aly argued back.

"Does it… really… matter?" Marco said between bites of food. "As long as we get to eat, I don't care."

"Yeah, but healthier food means healthier minds." Cass said.

"Food is fuel. It doesn't matter what it is as long as we fill our tanks with it." Marco countered.

"Can we stop debating this?" Aly asked. "No matter what points you come up with the school isn't going to change anything. The budget plan is already failing, just so you know."

"Oh great," I said sarcastically. "A failing budget plan. Just so horrible for such an immaculate and prestigious school. However will they get the funds to pay for the upkeep of the no less than seven running water fountains I have seen on school grounds so far? It must be so rough no longer being part of the 1%."

There was a pause in conversation around me after I finished. Aly was staring at me like I was crazy, which I didn't like at all. Even Marco was looking at me like I was a bit of a jerk.

"The Lambda School for Gifted Youth is actually drastically underfunded for the potential of the student body." Aly stated. "We barely have much more than a regular public school, though granted we do have significantly less students. And this isn't a matter of being fiscally responsible either; we just don't have enough parents enrolling their children in boarding schools anymore. More families are choosing to keep their kids in public schools, opting out regular classes for AP and Honours classes. This is a problem because most of the school's money comes from the students' families; money from the government is only meant as a supplement when enrolment levels are low… like now." Aly paused.

"My aunt is on the board of trustees." She explained.

I was a bit dumbfounded, but luckily I didn't have to reply because just then a teacher came over to our table, interrupting the conversation.

"We're cleaning the comestible and closing it for the day in five minutes, please leave quickly." She said, staring pointedly at Marco's large helping of food that he hadn't finished yet.

"Don't worry Mrs. Massa; we'll be out before you start cleaning! By the way, is that a new skirt? It looks lovely on you." Marco said.

"Sucking up won't help you finish your meal." Mrs. Massa replied, although she did look pleased.

"Hey Marco, I think I'm going to go back to my dorm. I have some grammar to catch up with for Foreign Languages, I hope you don't mind." Cass said, standing up.

Marco mumbled something incoherent while stuffing the rest of his beans in his mouth.

"Cool, see you later. Hey, Jack, you gonna come with me?" Cass asked.

"Yeah, sure." I said, getting up. I didn't really want to be left alone with Marco, Daria, and Aly, all of whom I had only just met. Not that I've known Cass for much longer, but I'd like to consider him my friend, maybe, hopefully.

I turned and waved to Aly, before heading off after Cass back to our room.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, why do you go to this school? I mean like… what are you good at in particular?" Cass asked as we walked to the dorm building.

"Uhh, well, I'm good with my hands. Wait, that came out wrong. I mean… I build and stuff. It's not really a talent, but…" I trailed off.

Cass just nodded silently, and took a glance at the graffiti on the wall.

"You know, I don't understand why people do that." He said quietly.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Graffiti. It's disgusting."

"Isn't graffiti considered a kind of modern art now?"

"That isn't." He said, pointing where someone had written "upper fløør is før queers".

"Oh yeah, I saw that earlier. It's weird. Who even writes O's like that?"

"Norwegians, but that's not the point. It's more of a gang kinda thing here I think. I've been trying to figure out who did it. The paint won't come off either, I would know. I've spent hours scrubbing it. I suspect Skilaki, but I'm really not sure." He sighed.

"Who's Skilaki?" I asked, as we walked into the building.

"I am Skilaki," said a voice from beside me. I jumped away as the girl I had seen earlier leaned in, smirking. Her headphones were hanging around her neck along with what looked like several interwoven silver necklaces.

I looked over at Cass, who was shielding himself behind me with a look of panic in his eyes.

"Go away!" He said feebly.

Skilaki ignored him, instead walking closer.

"So, I'm curious. Why was I brought up in conversation? Hmm?" Her black glossed lips curled disdainfully.

"He was telling me about all the students at this school. I'm new. My name is Jack McKinley." I said, covering for Cass.

"Pleased to meet you, Jack." Skilaki said, raising her painted on eyebrows as she shook my hand.

"Are you a vampire?" I asked stupidly.

She giggled rather uncharacteristically.

"I love it when they ask bold questions." She said, smiling at Cass as if she was sharing a joke with him. Cass didn't smile back.

"I'm not a vampire, though I do happen to be a fan. I'm actually just an ordinary goth."

"Have you read Twilight?" I asked.

Her smile faded and her expression became blank.

"No." She said simply. We stared at each other for a couple seconds, and then she turned around and went down the hall, grabbing her laptop from the couch on the way.

"I did not like that at all." Cass shuddered.

We ran up the stairs quickly, and walked to our dorm without a word.

"This school is weird." I commented after Cass had shut the door.

"It's not that bad most of the time." Cass said, but I heard him mutter "Oh, I hate her." under his breath.

"So… why do _you_ go to this school?" I asked.

"Hmm?" Cass said absently. "Oh, I go here for the language courses. I live in a pretty rural area most of the time, and my old school only offered Spanish and French, both of which I was completely fluent in by fourth grade. So I started learning German and Portuguese off of the internet, and I learned Mandarin from my next door neighbour, and I picked up some ASL from another neighbour, and it kinda just went from there." He shrugged.

I was astounded. I could barely speak English properly at times, and this small kid was at least trilingual at the age of nine.

"How—how many languages do you know then?" I asked.

Cass thought for a moment, then began counting on his fingers.

"English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Norwegian, Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Cantonese, American Sign Language, British Sign Language, Braille, Greek, Russian, Hindu, Croatian, and Portuguese. Wait, no, I already said that. I meant Punjabi. I'm not entirely fluent in that one yet though. And I'm also learning German Sign Language, Ukrainian, and Gaelic. So that's… twenty languages? I lost count. Something like that." He paused thoughtfully.

"How do you even learn all of those?" I asked, even more amazed.

"I don't know. Good memory? They get easier once you know how languages work, with word order and all that. Do you know any other languages?"

"Bonjour mis ami. Tu es mon frère. Arc on ciel. Poubelle. Gâteau. That's about it," I laughed.

Cass grimaced.

"Please don't ever go to France." He said, patting my arm.

"Really? I was thinking of living there." I joked.

I couldn't tell if Cass was about to laugh or cry, but it was somehow very hilarious and in a matter of minutes we were both sprawled on the floor giggling like idiots.

"Please—please don't go to France though. Seriously." Cass said, wiping a tear out of his eye.

"Maybe I'll bring you with me so you can translate." I suggested jokingly.

"No no no, I speak Quebec French, not France French." Cass said. "Parisians would hate me if I spoke it there. I'd be better speaking English or German to them."

"Or you could bust out in full on Cantonese and surprise everyone."

Cass laughed and leaned backwards onto the carpet.

"You know, you're pretty funny, Jack." He said.

"Dank." I replied.

"It's pronounced danke." Cass corrected.

"Dan-kuh." I repeated.

"Don't go to Germany or Austria either." Cass advised.

"Point taken."


	8. Chapter 8

"So… what do people do on the weekends here?" I asked Cass as we left our dorm to head down for breakfast the next morning.

"Homework, if they stay. Some visit their families. I don't." He said, straightening his tie.

"Well, I don't have any homework, and I can't go home." I grumbled.

"Fair enough," Cass yawned.

"I don't usually wear my uniform on the weekend." He informed me. "But I figured I might as well since you don't have any other decent clothes and you're also new here, which does not usually make a good impression. You'd come off as too preppy or uptight, so I'm helping you blend in." He explained.

"Gee, thanks." I said sarcastically.

"No problem." He replied, pushing the door open.

We walked the short distance to the main building in silence until we met up with Aly and Marco.

"Hey, it's my bro Cassius, and Mr. Definitely-not-Jacqueline! What's up?" Marco yelled to us.

Aly waved. She looked happy to be near Marco, which I will admit made me slightly jealous, but I pushed the feeling aside. I barely knew her, I was just being pathetic. Still, there was a certain magic about a girl who could make slacks and a button up look like a new trend.

"Hey, Marco." Cass said, giving him a fist bump. "Morning, Aly."

"Good morning." Aly replied.

"Hi," I said awkwardly. "I like your shirt."

"This is the same shirt you're wearing." Aly pointed out.

"Oh… yeah. Right." I said, trying not to blush noticeably.

"Shall we proceed into the comestible?" Marco gestured at the open doors of the cafeteria.

"Yes, let us." Cass said, imitating a teacher.

The two of them walked stiffly towards the door, as if they were wearing old fashioned suits.

"What dorks." Aly sighed, and walked in after them.

I was about to follow when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked around. It was the girl I saw at dinner yesterday, and her brother.

"Hi, I'm Helena." She said. "You're the new kid, right?"

"Yeah, I am. Jack McKinley." I introduced myself.

"Cool. You should sit with us for breakfast. We'll compare classes, become homework buddies." She said.

"Oh, I was actually going to sit with Cass and Aly."

Helena exchanged a glance with her brother.

"We'll join you." Anthony said in a surprisingly deep voice. It almost sounded like he had an English accent. "Cass and Aly are cool."

They went around me and into the cafeteria, me following them like the awkward being I was.

"So what are your specialty courses?" Helena asked as we stood in line getting our food.

"Specialty courses?" I questioned.

"You know, your electives. Why you're here instead of at a public school."

"Oh. Technology I think? I don't really remember, I didn't bring my schedule." I said sheepishly.

"You didn't memorize your classes yet?" Helena paused with her mouth open in shock.

"He only just got here." Anthony said. "It's the weekend, and everyone knows it's a good idea to clear your mind before the next week of school starts. That's why I finish all my remaining homework on Friday nights."

"Nerd." Helena muttered. I could agree with that statement.

As Anthony turned to serve himself some fruit salad, I noticed something sparkling by his ear.

"Hey, what's that?" I asked.

"My earring?" Anthony reached his hand up and twisted it.

"Yeah. Why is your ear pierced?" I asked. I thought it was odd that someone like Anthony would wear an earring.

"I actually have both ears pierced. I got them done with Helena a couple years ago. Quite painful." He went back to serving himself.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Anthony and Helena were twins. They just seemed so different; the only similarity between them that I had noticed so far was their matching earrings.

"So, what classes do you take here?" I asked them both. "Do you do the same ones?"

"No way!" Helena exclaimed.

"Definitely not." Said Anthony.

"I take Media Arts and Performing Arts, Anthony does Orchestra and Technology Advanced." Helena answered. "Hey, maybe you're in Anthony's Tech class!"

"I don't think so. I'm in Intermediate, not Advanced I'm pretty sure."

"Oh well." Anthony said nonchalantly.

After filling our trays we headed over to where Cass and his friends were sitting.

"Oh there you are, Jack! I didn't see you come in." Cass said, making room for me at the table. Anthony and Helena went around and sat on either side of Aly. I tried to catch Aly's eye but she was staring off in the direction of the door. Daria was just coming in.

"Hey Dars, we're sitting over here!" Marco waved.

Daria waved back and went to stand in line.

Aly grimaced. "Dars? Seriously?"

"It was the only nickname I could think of." Marco shrugged.

I could almost feel Aly's death glare.

"So what are you guys doing later?" Cass said, changing the subject. "I've finished all my homework, so I'm thinking of going into town. Nirvana's driving there to see her friend from Switzerland, and she has four empty seats. Anyone want to come with me?"

"I will." Aly said.

"Helena and I promised to call our parents, so we will have to miss out." Anthony replied.

"I've got to practice my Martial Arts, so that's a no for me. Sorry bro." Marco said.

"What about you, Jack?" Cass turned to me.

"I guess, sure. I haven't had classes yet, so it's not like I have homework." I shrugged.

"Perfect. Marco, do you know if Chloe could come?" Cass asked him.

"Chloe promised to do Martial Arts with me later." Marco explained.

"Okay, I'll find someone else to come along as well. Oh, maybe Daria can." Cass lit up.

Daria was just walking over with her tray, which she had loaded with strawberry covered pancakes.

"Daria, Nirvana's driving a few of us into the town, do you want to come? We could show you around, I know the area pretty well." Cass said excitedly.

"Sure, that sounds fun." Daria beamed. "Who else is going?"

"Just Aly, Jack, and I." He responded.

"When did Nirvana say she was leaving?" Aly asked.

"In three hours I think?"


End file.
